Lives of the Dead
Author's Note This story originally existed because I wanted to write some kind of submission for Ned's G-mod contest; however, after realizing Men of the Day was incomplete and an all-around better story, I unsubmitted this one in favor of completing Men of the Day. This wasn't my first idea for Ned's contest either, as I deliberated for a few days over what kind of story to do. My original idea was to do a Minecraft story inspired loosely from the events of NeddehCraft. However, after struggling to think of ideas I decided that, perhaps, I could write another story about an old game most (if not all) of us cherished; PotCO. This story was inspired by Weeping in the Waves in the sense that it focuses on the lives of the characters after the game's destruction. However, I have a very different idea of how to execute this, hence why I'm writing my own story about the idea. Lives of the Dead is a name this story shares with the last chapter of Tim O'Brien Vietnam War book, The Things They Carried. This chapter of O'Brien's book discusses the idea that dead people are kept alive by the stories you tell about them (which is a common practice throughout the rest of the book). I thought it would be fitting here because of this being a story about characters who are, in a sense, dead. Telling this story about them, regardless of its truth value, keeps them alive. Characters To be added to as characters are added and developed upon Christopher Crane: A very tall, dark-skinned man who is approximately two hundred years old. He is partially immortal, with his only weakness being cursed weapons. He has an obsession with soap, particularly scented soap, and is often characterized by his calm and collected demeanor. Ned Edgewalker: A Pirate Lord of the Eighth Brethren Court and former Pirate Lord of the Seventh Brethren Court, who is fifty six years old. Richard Cannonwalker: The Pirate King of the Eighth Brethren Court, who is thirty five years old. He has significant experience in the field of leadership, leading with a combination of charisma and cautious decision-making. Jim Logan: The former Pirate King of the Sixth Brethren Court and Pirate Lord of the Eighth Brethren Court. Finn Hamm: A "contact" of Christopher Crane's. He is characterized by a sarcastic attitude and, at times, he's seemingly omnipresent due to his access to knowledge that he shouldn't have (such as knowing about fights he didn't seem to be present for). He fights only with throwing knives. He is also an avid pipe-smoker. Raphael: A mysterious member of the Black Guard, who also hunts bounties. Story Prologue It was the afternoon of September 19, 1746. The air was filled with the desperation of hundreds of pirates, as Jolly Roger and his army of undead marauders stormed the beaches of Raven's Cove. Up until this point, Jolly Roger had never launched a successful full-scale invasion of Raven's Cove, with the previous one being thwarted by the East India Trading Company. Up until now, Roger had only successfully invaded Port Royal, Tortuga or Padres Del Fuego in hopes of catching Jack Sparrow. This was not the case today; today, Roger wanted weapons. Jolly Roger had long sought cursed weapons; for what, nobody was quite sure. However, everybody was certain that if he captured any cursed weapons, it would spell serious trouble for everybody. The pirates were not prepared for an invasion of Raven's Cove, and as such planned poorly. The barricades protecting the island were not built properly, not all of the important defense points had enough people guarding them, and, perhaps most importantly, nobody actually knew where the cursed weapons were; nobody except Roger himself. When the time came for the pirates to fight, they desperately threw all of the manpower they had at Roger's army. The defense was difficult for the pirates, but Roger's army on the front beach was ultimately unable to advance. However, on the beach near the mine shaft on the other end of the island, where there were no choke points, Roger's army ran rampant. The less numerous pirate forces were easily overwhelmed and, as a result, Jolly Roger and his army were able to use the mine shaft and enter El Patron's Mine. Inside the mine, however, Jolly Roger was met with a few dozen pirates that had been lying in wait. Roger fought these pirates for a period of time long enough to allow reinforcements to arrive. The fight dragged on for many minutes, allowing Roger to bring in reinforcements of his own. A pattern of bringing in reinforcements would continue from both sides until the pirates, and almost all of Roger's army, had been slain. Roger stormed through El Patron's Mine and out to El Patron's Ship, where a tall, dark figure stood with his back to Roger, looking down at a chest. The figure turned around and looked at Roger. He held a World Eater Blade in one hand and a Behemoth Blade in the other, with various other cursed weapons on his weapon belt. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" The man asked Roger sarcastically. "Crane, I should have guessed you would be here." Roger said angrily. Christopher Crane, known to some as the "Hermit," had many encounters with Roger in the past, most of which resulted in Roger's defeat. "Well, you know about my weakness to cursed weapons. Did you just think I'd let you get them without some kind of resistance?" Crane asked. With that, Roger and Crane began fighting. As in many of their fights, Crane quickly got the upper hand. He broke free of any shackles Roger imposed on him with his voodoo powers. However, undead began flooding out of El Patron's Mine and, as a result, Crane began to be overwhelmed. His proficiency in fighting of all kinds (along with his near-immortality) allowed him to continue fighting off these skeletons for some time. "Crane, don't think your second weakness is a secret!" Jolly Roger stated, laughing. Crane looked bewildered as Jolly Roger pulled a bar of soap out of his coat pocket, as if Roger had just unleashed a horrible secret. Crane's obsession with the soap caused him to become momentarily distracted, allowing the undead army to overwhelm him. Not only did they strip him of his weapons, but they pushed him off the boat and into the water. Roger mockingly tossed the bar of soap down at him before grabbing the cursed weapons. "And now, Jack Sparrow and all of those other braindead pirates will perish!" Jolly Roger shouted. He absorbed the voodoo power from the swords and manifested it into an orb of voodoo energy in his hands. Crane looked up from the water with concern as the orb increased in size. "Fuck my life." Crane said. Roger released the orb into the sky, watching it rapidly expand. Crane swam as deep in the water as he could, afraid of what would happen. Chapter I On Tortuga, life was ordinary. The beach was swarming with drunkards shouting and fighting each other, every tavern was packed to the brim with patrons, and business in general was booming. Things were, in a sense, more ordinary than was ordinary to be. Inside the King's Arm tavern on the beach, among all this typical chaos, sat two men at a table, talking. "I'm telling you Richard, the Court is strong enough to take on England now. Why wait?" One of the men said. This man was Ned Edgewalker, a pronounced Pirate Lord of the Eighth Brethren Court. Edgewalker had been in a previous court as well and, as a man of fifty six, had considerable experience in the Brethren Court and in the art of piracy as a whole. "England may be going through a bit of a recession, but they'd still defeat us easily." The other man said. This man was Richard Cannonwalker, the Pirate King of the Eighth Brethren Court. Richard, a man of thirty five, didn't have quite as much life experience as Ned, but nonetheless was voted to become Pirate King over him. "Come on Richard, you haven't taken any kind of action since becoming King all those months ago." Ned said. "Action? You mean needlessly flinging lives at a super military force? No thanks." Richard responded. "Richard, we could conquer England and show them once and for all that piracy isn't dead. Georgy would never see it coming." "But we have that treaty from the Sixth Court with England." "Treaties don't carry over between courts." "Who says they don't?" "I do." As Ned and Richard debated as to what action to take concerning England, a man bursted into the tavern and shot a gun off in the air, silencing everybody. "THERE'S SOMETHING GOING ON OUTSIDE!" The man shouted. Suddenly, almost everybody in the King's Arm tavern flooded to the outside. "Wanna go go check it out?" Ned asked. "I'd rather have another drink." Richard replied. Richard went up to the bar and brought two bottles of grog back to the table, giving one to Ned and keeping one for himself. "I propose a toast." Ned began. "To piracy, and to freedom." Ned and Richard clinked bottles together and, as they were about to take their first sips, heard a large explosion from outside. The two bottles instantly shattered, and anybody left inside the tavern was knocked unconscious. Hours later, Richard woke up in a daze. He felt as thought he had been clubbed over the head with the hilt of a sword. He rubbed his head and attempted to stand. As he regained his bearings, he noticed that the tavern was partially damaged; the roof was caved in, any glass was shattered, and a few people were crushed under some debris. Richard saw Ned was unconscious beside him and tried to wake him up. "Ned, come on, wake up." Richard said, shaking Ned. Richard then slapped Ned, causing him to open his eyes. "What happened?" Ned asked, rubbing his head. "I don't know. Let's check outside." Richard suggested. Richard helped Ned to his feet and the two walked outside. They saw that the beach was completely devoid of life and, to their horror, that the sky had turned green. In the center of the sky, among the deep green, was a moon plastered with Jolly Roger's face. "What the hell is going on?!" Ned asked. "I don't know, but just calm down." Richard replied. "Calm down?! Look at this place! Something's going on Rich!" "I know, I know, but let's just take a deep breath and go figure out what's happening instead of panicking." Ned and Richard began walking around the island. All of the buildings they encountered had some kind of damage, ranging from damages similar to those of King's Arm to complete cave-ins. Not only did they discover the island of Tortuga was in shambles, but the entire island was also devoid of life, just as the beach was. "Where did everybody go?" Richard asked. Suddenly, Ned and Richard heard a rustling in a bush. "Who's there?" Ned asked. There was no response. "Who's there god dammit?!" Ned asked again. A figure emerged from the bush. He was a skinny man with a goatee and a mustache, and he was holding a pistol. "Jim?" Richard questioned. Jim Logan, Pirate King of the Sixth Brethren Court, stood before Ned and Richard in fear. "Everybody's gone." He said. Chapter II Christopher Crane, clothes wet from the events that transpired aboard El Patron's Ship, had gotten back to his own ship, the Black Demon, in the abandoned dock of Raven's Cove. He sat next to one of the cannons, legs hanging off the boat, looking up at the sky. He observed the dark night covered by a blanket of green clouds, and the moon with Jolly Roger's face on it, almost looking down and mocking him. Crane stood up and looked at the moon. "God damn you Roger!" Crane shouted. "I figured you were gonna lose it someday, but shouting at the moon?" Christopher Crane turned around and saw a silhouette emerge from the shadows. He was significantly smaller than Crane, both in height and size. He wore an entirely black outfit, similar to Crane's, except for the fact that he had a hat with a red trim and a feather attached. "Finn, how the hell did you get on my ship?" Crane asked. "I think the real question is how you did. I figured Jolly Roger would have been smart enough to finish you off after the blast, considering the blast didn't even hit this island." The man said. This man was named Finn Hamm, a man who, at times, almost seemed omnipresent due to his knowledge about every situation. "How did you know about that little caper with Jolly and I?" "Oddly enough, steep cliffs are good spots to observe things from." "Wouldn't he have seen you if you were right on the cliff?" "Crane, please. We're talking about a man who was too stupid to not only neglect finishing you off after you fell in the water, but a man who was too stupid to get a few cursed weapons for his little ritual. You'd think with a guy like Jolly Roger, this would have happened sooner, but I guess he's dumber than we think." Finn pulled a pipe from his pocket, lit it, and huffed once. "Still smoking that pipe, I see? I never quite understood the appeal of it." Crane said. "All these flavors and you don't choose tobacco. What a shame." Finn replied jokingly. Finn huffed his pipe once more. After exhaling the smoke, rattling and moaning could be heard from the shores of Raven's Cove. "Roger's crew back for more, I presume?" Finn questioned. "Probably." Crane said. Finn and Crane unsheathed their swords and unholstered their pistols. The two looked over the edge of the starboard bow towards the island, seeing a large army of the undead approaching them. Finn and Crane began raining bullets onto the crowd of the undead, although the distance between them and the skeletons was such that almost none of the bullets hit. "What are we doing? We could just use the cannons right now." Crane said. "Good idea, so glad you had it before we wasted all of our ammo like idiots.." Finn replied sarcastically. Finn and Crane grabbed cannons and began shooting at the undead. As the crowd began to dissipate and turn into a pile of bones and dust, Finn and Crane could hear rattling and moaning coming from behind them. They turned around and saw that the undead had begun to climb onto the ship. "You continue shooting undead on the beach, I'll take the ones climbing up." Crane told Finn. "Sounds like a plan." Finn responded. Crane grabbed his sword and pistol and began unloading on the undead, decapitating many before they could even get up the side of the ship. Those who were able to get onto the ship, however, had a swift and fatal meeting with one of Crane's pistol bullets. This pattern would continue for a few minutes, until the two started to become overwhelmed by the sheer number of undead that they had to fight. "Finn, get off the cannon and help fight. I'll get to the wheel and get us out of here." Crane said. "Lovely." Finn said. Finn got off the cannon and pulled out throwing knives. As skeletons popped their heads out from behind the bows of the ship, Finn swiftly sent them back down by lodging throwing knives in their heads. "Silver Freeze, because pistols are too easy." Finn said. Finn continued using his Silver Freeze throwing knives until the Black Demon was a safe distance away from Raven's Cove. Eventually, skeletons stopped climbing up the sides of the ship, and Finn could rest. "Where are we going?" Finn asked Crane. "We're going to Port Royal." Crane replied. "And why's that?" "I've gotta meet an old friend." "Which one? You seem to have a lot of those." "You'll see." Crane and Finn sailed for some time, before docking at Port Royal. After getting off the ship and onto the dock, they noticed that the island, much like Tortuga, was completely devoid of life. "I guess Port Royal is no Tortuga, but this is unusual. Let's get moving." Crane said. Finn and Crane began investigating the island, covering most of it and discovering no people along the way. Crane contemplated where his old friend could be, but was unsure. "Well, we can't find any people, but look on the bright side; if the entire island is devoid of people, that probably means Fort Charles is devoid of people too. We could fuck some stuff up while we're here, at least." Finn said. "Might as well." Crane agreed. The two entered Fort Charles, only to discover there were no guards in sight. They investigated the camp outside of the heart of the fort, discovering no people. They then went into the heart of the fort, discovering nobody in there either. "Well, let's get to stealing." Finn said. Finn and Crane began looting the various crates and boxes littered around the lower level of the fort, until they heard footsteps and, finally, a voice. "What are you two doing?" The voice said. Finn and Crane looked up at the direction where the voice came from, seeing two silhouettes staring at them from the top level of the fort. Chapter III The Faithful Bride in the heart of Tortuga was moderately damaged. Much like King's Arm, the roof was caved in. Most of the glass inside, including the chandeliers, were broken. The support beams were somewhat damaged as well. However, Richard, Ned and Jim still found this to be an adequate place to discuss the events that transpired. Richard brought three bottles of rum over from the counter to the table the trio was sitting at. "Jim, tell us exactly what you remember. What happened?" Richard asked. "I was in town buying some swords from a blacksmith, when I heard a big explosion from outside. I took cover from whatever it was, and went outside to find that the island was almost completely empty." Jim replied. "Almost? Who else was left?" "I saw a couple of Black Guard grunts boarding a ship, but didn't want to confront them." "Only Black Guard grunts? No pirates?" "None that I could see." "Do you guys think maybe the Black Guard knows something we don't?" Ned interjected. "They might. Maybe they destroyed the island, like they had plans to a few years back." Richard replied. "Or they're plotting with Jolly Roger." Ned suggested. "Regardless, we can't know what they're up to unless we do some snooping. Let's get moving." Jim suggested. Richard, Ned and Jim all exited the Faithful Bride tavern and headed towards the beach. When they arrived, they discovered a man in a black jacket, black pants and black boots with his back turned towards the group. He stood on top of a stack of crates on the dock, staring up at the moon. Richard, Jim and Ned all seemed unsure of how to react to the man's presence. "Hello?" Ned asked. With one swift motion, the man spun around, lunged off the crates and threw a knife at Ned, which barely missed his head and lodged into the wall of the King's Arm tavern behind him. The man smirked. "What the hell?! What's your problem?!" Ned asked angrily. The man looked at Ned in silence, then slowly drew his sabre. "What problem would that be?" The man asked. "What do you mean?! You just threw a dagger at me!" Ned exclaimed. "I did. How very observant of you." The man replied. "Why'd you do it?!" Ned asked indignantly. "I assume anybody capable of surviving a disaster like that must be worth something dead." The man replied. "One Black Guard soldier against three Pirate Lords? Don't make us laugh." Richard stated. "So you're all members of the Brethren Court?" The man asked. "Yea. Who might you be?" Jim replied. "You may call me Raphael; a Black Guard soldier by day, a bounty hunter by night." The man answered. "As it would seem, all Pirate Lords have a six thousand-guinea bounty placed on them, while the Pirate King himself has an eight thousand-guinea bounty placed on him. It looks like I'm walking out of this little endeavour a rich man." Raphael said, laughing. "Your bounties mean nothing. You couldn't possibly take on two Pirate Lords and the Pirate King at once by yourself." Richard said. "Prove me wrong then." The man said. Richard drew his cutlass and began swinging at Raphael. Raphael rapidly swung his own sabre, blocking every hit with unbelievable agility and precision. Jim and Ned drew their cutlasses and attempted to interfere in the fight, only to have Raphael lunge backwards to avoid them. As this was happening, a dinghy filled with four other Black Guard soldiers rowed up to and exited onto the beach. Trailing slowly behind the dinghy was an East India Trading Company War Frigate known simply as the Tyrant. "Sir?" One of the soldiers asked. "What is it? Can't you see I'm busy?" Raphael asked the soldier indignantly, while attempting to avoid Jim, Ned and Richard all at once. The soldiers understood at once and drew their own cutlasses, jumping into the fray. Ned and Jim turned their attention to the four soldiers and both drew a second sword to double-wield with. As Ned and Jim fought the four Black Guard soldiers, Richard and Raphael's fight spilled onto the dock. Raphael backed Richard up into the crates he was standing on earlier and pushed him into them, making them fall into the water and making him trip. Raphael lifted his sabre and was about to slash Richard's throat, but was tripped by Richard on the ground, who used the opportunity to quickly get back to his own feet, although Raphael did the same before Richard could capitalize. The fighting raged on in this fashion for several minutes, with all men involved beginning to grow weary. Ned was able to shove one of the soldiers into the water, momentarily gaining an advantage, slitting the throat of and killing the second soldier he was fighting. Jim, taking advantage of the distraction the two soldiers he was fighting experienced, swiftly killed them both. Ned finished off the soldier in the water, who was still scrambling to get back to his feet. Jim and Ned ran over to the docks, seeing Raphael and Richard still fighting. Raphael, seeing Jim and Ned approaching, turned around and ran to the other end of the dock, with Richard, Ned and Jim all trailing behind him. At this point, the Tyrant had pulled up very close to the end of the dock. "Well boys, I'm afraid this little fight of ours will have to be postponed; don't die before our next encounter, you still owe me your blood." Raphael said. The Tyrant lowered a plank to the dock for Raphael to walk onto the ship from. Richard, Jim and Ned tried to follow him, but Raphael shot at their feet with a flintlock pistol, causing them to stop dead in their tracks. Before the trio went to move again, Raphael had quickly boarded the Tyrant and ordered the ship to exit the docking area. "So long, you sausages!" Raphael shouted. Raphael then unholstered his flintlock pistol and began firing rapidly at the dock from the stern of the ship. Richard, Ned and Jim scrambled to take cover as Raphael laughed maniacally, shooting and barely missing them with each shot. Richard and Ned both took cover behind some of the spilled crates from earlier, while Jim took cover behind a barrel. Raphael, realizing Jim was not fully covered, took a shot at him, hitting him in the ankle. The Tyrant exited Tortuga's cove as Jim clutched his ankle in pain, with Richard and Ned tending to his injury, unsure if they would be able to do anything for him. Category:Fan Stories Category:Action/Adventure Category:POTCO Stories Category:POTCO